Independent 10,726 by Klingsor

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The puzzle is available here.

 

Hello everyone.  Thanks to Klingsor for another classy puzzle.  I thought 27a (AMUSINGLY) was very clever and also enjoyed 8d (RUDDERLESS) and 9d (LEGALESE).  Given the overall quality of the puzzle, I think it’s likely that at least one comment today will make me think “oh yes, why on earth didn’t I mention that one as a highlight?”

 

Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics, explicit [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER. Link words are generally omitted for clarity.

 

Across

1a    Set straight off as bar’s opening is due (8)
DISABUSE
An anagram (off) of AS, Bar’s first letter (opening), and IS DUE

5a    One detects edit in audio (6)
SENSOR
CENSOR (edit), homophone (in audio)

10a   Butterfly practically overflows with colour (9)
BRIMSTONE
BRIMS (practically overflows) with TONE (colour)

11a   Send back stupid one close to coconut shy (5)
TIMID
Reverse (send back) DIM (stupid), I (one), and the last letter of (close to) coconuT

12a   Go away, not having time for Native American (4)
HOPI
HOP I[t] (go away) without (not having) T (time)

13a   Build up chain resort (9)
REARRANGE
REAR (build up) + RANGE (chain)

15a   After playing set, no-hoper is close to defeat (2,3,5)
ON THE ROPES
An anagram of (playing) SET NO HOPER

17a   Around middle of recital, pass wind (4)
COIL
Around the middle letter of recItal, COL (pass)

19a   On return, encounter swarm (4)
TEEM
The reversal of (on return) MEET (encounter)

20a   A crew’s involved with sick jokes (10)
WISECRACKS
A CREWS anagrammed together with (involved with) SICK

22a   A fellow embraces relation, showing love (9)
ADORATION
A DON (a fellow) goes around (embraces) RATIO (relation)

24a   Without function (4)
SINE
Two definitions, the first for the Latin

26a   Anything seized? Not cocaine (5)
AUGHT
[c]AUGHT (seized) without (not) C (cocaine)

27a   Johnson for one keeps employing Latin in a funny way (9)
AMUSINGLY
AMY (Johnson for one) contains (keeps) USING (employing) and L (Latin)

28a   Back in Derby on vacation – that’s dull (6)
DREARY
REAR (back) in DerbY without its inner letters (on vacation)

29a   Tire, grabbing exercise? Energy is needed for body (8)
FUSELAGE
FLAG (tire) around (grabbing) USE (exercise) + E (energy)

 

Down

1d    Does extensive borrowing tend primarily to create it? (4)
DEBT
The first letters of (… primarily) Does Extensive Borrowing Tend Primarily

2d    Hit shot up to fine leg? A mistake (4,2,3,6)
SLIP OF THE TONGUE
An anagram of (hit) SHOT UP TO FINE LEG

3d    Basket for the tiny fish I catch (8)
BASSINET
BASS (fish) + I + NET (catch)

4d    Polish Catholic tucked into tart (5)
SCOUR
C (Catholic) inside (tucked into) SOUR (tart)

6d    Soaring seabird swallows it whole (6)
ENTIRE
The reversal of (soaring) ERNE (seabird) goes around (swallows) IT

7d    Opera by Verdi or Mascagni once recast to include bass (5,10)
SIMON BOCCANEGRA
OR MASCAGNI ONCE anagrammed (recast) containing (to include) B (bass)

8d    Adrift, runs like bull (as opposed to cow)? (10)
RUDDERLESS
R (runs) + UDDERLESS (like bull (as opposed to cow)?)

9d    Good beers in general creating talk at the bar? (8)
LEGALESE
G (good) and ALES (beers) in LEE (general)

14d   Prohibited group of Nicaraguan rebels? (10)
CONTRABAND
CONTRA BAND could be a group of Nicaraguan rebels

16d   Novel said to encompass independent spirit (8)
ORIGINAL
ORAL (said) around (to encompass) I (independent) and GIN (spirit)

18d   Standing stone stops e.g. pier collapsing (8)
PRESTIGE
ST (stone) goes inside (stops) an anagram of (… collapsing) EG PIER

21d   Buffet food may be covered with it (6)
BATTER
A double definition

23d   Vessel returns, carrying gold for island country (5)
NAURU
URN (vessel) is reversed (returns) containing (carrying) AU (gold)

25d   Somewhat badly restored old instrument (4)
LYRE
Embedded in (somewhat) badLY REstored

 

16 comments on “Independent 10,726 by Klingsor”

  1. I enjoyed this with 27a my favourite. I needed to check that “tiny” in 3d could be used as a noun; that “build up” in 13a could mean “rear”; and that “polish” could mean the answer to 4d.

    Many thanks to the 2Ks – a very different 2Ks compared with those on another crossword website!

  2. Thanks Kitty for your always entertaining blog and of course Klingsor for an equally entertaining puzzle. For some reason I couldn’t parse 29A, getting fixated on ‘lag’ rather than ‘flag’ for tire. Though not an opera fan, I was rather pleased with myself for seeing ‘Simon Boccanegra’ without resorting to online aid. Boccanegra appears to be a mash of Italian and Spanish for ‘black mouth’.

  3. Kitty, if I were limited to three favourites, I would pick exactly the same ones as you – 27ac is sublime – but I must add the very clever opera at 7dn.

    Most enjoyable, as ever from Klingsor. Many thanks to him and to Kitty.

  4. Enjoyed that – slight improvement on my usual level without needing help maybe I’m getting there!

    HOPI and CONTRABAND my favourites and once I worked out why I agree with RUDDERLESS as being very clever.

    Thanks to Klingsor and Kitty

    Question for anyone: I would never have got the Opera (a bit like the poetry one the other day not my strong point) , I knew it was an anagram but couldn’t get it – how do we all feel about google at that point? At 15 letters it contains many useful crossers but also feels like I shouldn’t be “cheating” – interested in points of view please

  5. Yes, a very enjoyable challenge, which I ultimately failed, being unable to get FUSELAGE – I couldn’t get PE for ‘exercise’ out of my head. Favourite for me too was AMUSINGLY, especially the Amy Johnson reference, closely followed by RUDDERLESS.

    Thanks to Kitty for blog and pics and to Klingsor

  6. Pleasant morning.. Tombsy@4.. I googled the opera.. it wasn’t even mentioned on a couple of sites.. i know some opera and I’ve never heard of that one.. I think its fair given its also an anagram in a different language.. my pennyworth.. plenty of others to keep me happy
    Thanks Kitty (nice visuals!) n Klingsor

  7. Tombsy @4 – you are not alone! My lack of opera knowledge, combined with a general hopelessness at anagrams, drove me to look up the second word of the opera. I’d have preferred to do this at the end at least, but like WordPlodder @5 I was having trouble with FUSELAGE and so that last checker came in USEful.

    For me, this was a “fail” (using my personal metrics or a daily puzzle – I have very different “rules” when solving The Listener!). But how anyone else chooses to solve and what aids (or lack of them) they want to employ is entirely down to them.

    It’s not a competition: there is no “cheating”.

  8. Bit of tennis, bit of opera, a butterfly, no slebs, big thumbs up. Strange coincidence, I had a dream last night that involved an anagram of ropes (literally, sadly).
    Thanks Klingsor, Kitty

  9. Most enjoyable, with some great clues – in addition to those already mentiopned we’d nominate DISABUSE and BASSINET.
    Thanks, Klingsor and Kitty.

  10. Really excellent puzzle. My favorites were actually 17A and 28A, simply because they both made me laugh out loud.

  11. Put me down as another who had to seek help with the opera and I didn’t look upon it as cheating!
    Quite enjoyed this one and would agree with Kitty’s choice of favourites with the addition of BRIMSTONE which made me smile.

    Thanks to Klingsor and to my favourite feline for the review.

  12. Well, I didn’t quite finish it – there were a couple still to get – but I did better than last Saturday. And I did know the opera, even seen it a few times.

  14. a quality puzzle from a quality setter. I am as always impressed with what i would call simple elegance – nothing to do with difficulty (it took me a bit longer than usual) but the clues just seem simple and perfect and always with something clever. And I admire the wisdom of including, for example, the strictly-speaking unnecessary “as opposed to cow”. An experienced setter with a style I aspire to.

    Thanks Klingsor, and thanks kitty, it brightens my day every time I see your name

  15. I was looking for another puzzle having done Saturday’s G and saw that Klingsor was the Indy setter and went for it as he/Alberich is a top setter in my book. My favourites have been mentioned; knowing how the clue worked and very little about opera I didn’t feel I was cheating at all by looking at Google for Verdi operas (who knew he wrote so many!); and my loi was also fuselage where, like WordPlodder@5, I couldn’t get PE out of my head – but MrsW got it.
    Thanks to Kitty for the entertaining blog and Klingsor for the puzzle – now to Wanderer in Friday’s FT – another top setter known better to me as Puck.

  16. In 12a, I was surprised to find HOP IT means ‘go away’ which Chambers has but does not have HOP TO IT meaning ‘hurry up’. I had never heard of the former but know the latter quite well. My mother said it all the time when we were slow to get ready for something.

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